Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday asked the Kerala government to take immediate steps to address the expatriate community's concerns over the steep hike in premiums for the NoRKA Care insurance scheme, The Hindu reported.

In a post on social media, Vijayan said the United Democratic Front (UDF) government has adopted a policy that removes existing support for emigrants who are already facing a crisis caused by the war situation in West Asia, according to the report.

Source: The Hindu

Vijayan said the premium for the 'Family Floating' policy has increased from Rs 13,411 to a range between Rs 35,664 and Rs 77,773. He said the government has refused to even allow a discussion of the matter in the legislature and continues to take a negative stance, despite the unanimous demands of various expatriate organisations.

According to the report, the government's justification for the hike is that insurance companies are unwilling to continue with the previous agreement due to the high value of the claims made.

NoRKA Care is the insurance scheme run through NoRKA Roots for Non-Resident Keralites. Vijayan demanded that the government reverse the premium increase and address the expatriates' concerns immediately. The state government had not announced any rollback in the reports available at the time of publication.